


from one point to the next

by WattStalf



Series: Commissions [41]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Crushes, Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: The first time they meet, Hilbert develops a nearly instant crush on Burgh, and Burgh has him all figured out. The next time they meet, things play out a little differently...The early stages of their relationship, told through a few brief drabbles.
Relationships: Touya | Hilbert/Arti | Burgh
Series: Commissions [41]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1325462
Kudos: 11





	from one point to the next

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for 2k worth of drabbles put into one thing, I hope you enjoy!

It’s kind of cute, the way Hilbert stumbles over his words at times, or the way his eyes linger a little too long. He makes his attraction a little too obvious, but Burgh can write that off as him simply being young and a little clueless, and nothing worth teasing the poor kid over. But it’s definitely there, and not in some way that he’d have to be a little vain to pick up on, but in a way that he thinks you’d have to be as dense as a rock to  _ not _ pick up on, no matter how well the person in question thinks they’re hiding it.

And it’s flattering, really, to be able to make some teenager get flustered just by smiling at him, though he has to tell himself not to fluster him  _ too _ much. After all, they’ve still got a battle to get through, and it wouldn’t do if he only won because he had an advantage like  _ that _ . If he’s going to win, it’s going to be based on strength, and not because his challenger gets Beautiflies in his stomach whenever they make eye contact.

Still, it’s a little cute the way he keeps blushing throughout the battle, getting distracted from time to time as he struggles to think through his next move.

~X~

Hilbert manages to get through his battle and obtain his badge from Burgh, albeit it with a few difficulties. He’d been prepared for this battle, training up ahead of time and making sure that his team was ready to handle it, but he hadn’t prepared himself for thinking the gym leader was really good-looking.

Which isn’t even something he thought would be a problem throughout his journey. It’s not that he thought they’d all be completely bland, but he thought it would never be enough to distract him from what he was after. And then there was Burgh, and from the moment he looked at him, Hilbert knew that it wasn’t going to be as simple as all that.

But he’s managed to pull through, difficulties aside. His team was ready for it, he just wasn’t, and he let his mind wander too often, forgetting which moves he should use or fidgeting with a potion, his hands somehow forgetting how to work them whenever Burgh decided to speak to him. Shaking hands with the older man after the battle is done nearly does him in for good, and Hilbert nearly thinks he’s going to black out.

Which is something completely new. He’s had crushes before, even been attracted to someone upon meeting them, but there is an intensity to this that leaves him reeling even after he’s already left the gym. So, like an idiot, he decides maybe he shouldn’t leave town before talking to Burgh one last time.

~X~

The kid comes back after he gets he already has his badge. Burgh had assumed he was already on his way to the next gym or wherever he was heading to, but he’s back the next day, just as flustered as he was before, but with a determination in his eyes this time, and a different sort than the one he sees when trainers come to battle. He realizes then that he may have had more of an effect on the kid than he initially realized, and braces himself for what he knows is coming.

Hilbert just wants to know if he’s busy, he claims. He just wanted to say he was going to be in town for a little while longer, and didn’t know anyone else to ask about this. All he wants, he says, is to know a little more about interesting places to visit while he’s here, and if Burgh doesn’t have any challengers lined up, then maybe…

It’s so obvious that it’s hard not to laugh, but he’s not heartless, and he doesn’t want to laugh at someone so genuine. Such a good kid, really very cute, but definitely too young for Burgh to get involved with, and too young to even humor, because if it came off as encouragement, well...that would only invite further advances and further trouble. Better to put a stop to it early on, before it gets to that point.

It’s easy enough to pretend that he’s too busy and to encourage Hilbert not to dawdle here when he has more gyms to take on and more training to do, and easy enough to ignore the disappointment in his eyes. He’s going to go far, Burgh assures him, all while playing like he’s oblivious to his crush, all the way to the end. It’s for the best for both of them, of course.

~X~

Hilbert doesn’t dwell on his rejection for long, though he can’t deny that it stings for some time after the fact. He was expecting it, really, but decided to try for it anyway, and didn’t even mention that he would like for it to be...well,  _ something _ , just to make sure that the rejection wasn’t too harsh on him. Still, he has a feeling Burgh might have had him figured out, and pushes that thought to the back of his mind, so that the embarrassment doesn’t sting as well.

And he gets on with his life, and he doesn’t dawdle in the city. He keeps up his training and his battles, and makes his way through the region past countless hurdles and detours, and forgets all about the gym leader who briefly through him a little off-kilter.

Or so he really wishes, but every gym he enters reminds him of that day, and every gym leader he encounters that doesn’t even charm him a little bit, everyone that he meets along the way that he things he  _ could _ have been attracted to, makes him realize that he still has his impossible crush on Burgh. For reasons completely beyond him, it’s something that he just can’t shake, and all he can do is keep it buried in the back of his mind as he battles his way through Unova.

~X~

Burgh had a feeling that Hilbert was going to go far, and seeing him become the champion is rewarding, in a way. He’s proud of anyone who makes it that far, always remembering the trainers who stand out to him, and Hilbert didn’t just stand out because of his obvious crush. There was clearly something about him, and now, that something is on display for everyone to see.

From what he hears, Hilbert settles into his role rather well, and that should be the end of that. There are new challengers all the time, some collecting their badge from him and others heading off in disappointment as they prepare to take him on again, but all have the goal, in the end, of dethroning Hilbert. Life is the same as it always is, until there is a buzz of excitement in the air, because, for whatever reason, the champion has come to town.

By now, Burgh is sure that he’s forgotten all about his brief crush. After all, he’s seen and experienced enough to grow him up quite a bit in the short amount of time, and it wasn’t anything major at the time. They spent little more than a day together, and Burgh had rebuffed his one attempt at advancing, so all of that should be long forgotten. Still, it will be nice to get to see him again, even if he won’t be able to fluster him with one smile.

~X~

It’s a stupid idea, and Hilbert is still going through with it. He knows that he hasn’t aged all that much, and that Burgh is probably still out of his league and still thinks he’s just a kid, but he’s come back to ask him again anyway.

His reasoning behind this is that, when Burgh turned him down, he’d claimed that Hilbert had other, more important things he needed to be doing. Other gym battles and training, all things that were very much true, at the time. But he’s the champion now, and the only thing that waits for him is accepting challenges from those who want to claim that title. Without those excuses anymore, Burgh will have to either come up with new ones or turn him down outright, and either way, Hilbert will know for sure that he meant it as a rejection the first time.

Beyond that, he thinks he’s changed in other ways since the last time he met. Maybe he is still just a kid, but after everything he’s done and how far he’s come, he doesn’t  _ feel _ like he’s just a kid, or at the very least, not just  _ some _ kid. There is a newfound confidence that comes with being the champion, and he’s ready to see how far that confidence can carry him.

~X~

Hilbert is different, that much is obvious from the moment he approaches Burgh. He doesn’t falter at the slightest hint of eye contact, and even a warm and welcoming smile isn’t enough to throw him off. Burgh was expecting this, expecting him to have already moved on from what was definitely just a passing infatuation, but it’s still strange to see him in person, and for his reactions to all be so different.

Hilbert says that it’s been a while, and Burgh agrees with him. He says that he never really got a chance to enjoy most of the cities he visited, so, now that he has the time to do so, he’s passing back through more casually. This was one of the ones he wanted to linger in before, he reminds Burgh, and Burgh is quickly realizing that this isn’t going how he expected it to.

So, what Hilbert wants to know is if,  _ this time _ \- and the emphasis might not be there, but Burgh hears it either way- he might be able to show him around. If he isn’t busy, of course, but Hilbert doesn’t mind waiting. He says that he doesn’t have anywhere else he needs to be, not for a little while, at least, and the meaning behind his words is very clear.

And Burgh, despite all his prior misgivings, despite knowing that this is the same kid from before, finds himself completely powerless to say no.

~X~

Burgh is easier to talk to than Hilbert remembers, but that doesn’t make their date any less pleasant. In fact, it makes it better, not tripping over what he says, and slowly discovering that, yes, this is definitely a date, and that, somehow, it’s easier to fluster Burgh than he expected.

It slowly begins to dawn on Hilbert that he’s got the upperhand this time, and despite the other man’s experience and looks and all the things that turned him into an absolute mess before- and secretly, he’s still a mess over it, just able to keep that hidden- he thinks he actually has a chance of winning him over.

~X~

Suddenly Burgh is able to understand with absolute clarity how Hilbert must have felt back when they met. He doesn’t know how it happened or what’s happening, but as he sits across the dinner table from him, he knows that he’s already in too deep. There’s charm behind Hilbert’s confidence now, whether he realizes it or not, and he definitely should have said no, gotten out before it was too late.

Because now he knows that it is too late and that, as long as the boy has his sights set on him, he’s going to end up following along with it. He’s flustered and overwhelmed and suddenly out of his element, and this defeat is much more severe and decisive than that first gym battle. This time, Hilbert has completely managed to blow him away, all with an innocent smile that says he doesn’t even realize what he’s done.

It’s almost scary how easily he turns the tables, all without ever realizing it, and Burgh is absolutely in over his head now.

~X~

The visit ends with Hilbert agreeing to come back soon, and he leaves with a fresh burst of confidence, glad that it went so well. He still hasn’t figured out just how much his subtle changes have moved the situation in his favor.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in my writing updates, please follow my fanfiction twitter @WattStalf  
> 


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